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Leicester City welcome West Ham on Tuesday night as Van Nistelrooy prepares for his Leicester City debut.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had a private conversation with new Leicester City boss Ruud van Nistelrooy last week before the Manchester United legend took his new role at the King Power Stadium.
The former Red Devils coach was in the stands as the Foxes were beaten 4-1 by Brentford on Saturday but will take charge of his first match against West Ham tonight. Julen Lopetegui takes his Hammers side to Leicester having been on the receiving end of a 5-2 hiding at the hands of Arsenal on Saturday evening.
Maresca led the Foxes to the Championship title last season before being snapped up by Chelsea this summer. Van Nistelrooy had already admitted that he called the Blues manager before accepting the Leicester City job and now Maresca has shared his version of the conversation.
Speaking in his press conference on Tuesday, Maresca said: "Ruud is a friend of mine. I said here before we faced Manchester United. He called me days ago before he took over there.
Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of Leicester City for the first time this week.Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of Leicester City for the first time this week.
Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of Leicester City for the first time this week. | Getty Images
"We had a conversation and I told him Leicester is a fantastic club, first of all because there are fantastic people. For sure, it's a good club. In the end, he decided to go. This was our conversation."
Leicester City sit 16th in the Premier League table after 13 fixtures with Steve Cooper dismissed from his job towards the end of November. Van Nistelrooy had just departed Old Trafford after a brief spell as interim boss and immediately landed the new position.
It's a big first match in charge for the former talisman as West Ham visit. Five points separate the London outfit in 14th and the Foxes in 16th. Lopetegui's side has struggled for consistency this season, giving Van Nistelrooy the opportunity to start life at Leicester City with a win.
Van Nistelrooy - ‘Maresca is a great friend’
Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Van Nistelrooy spoke openly about Maresca. He said: "When the first approach was there, you are going to think about the club, the setup, the players, the training ground.
"You're curious about the people who work there and Enzo [Maresca], being a great friend and former teammate, he was the first one to call. What better information could I get?
"When we played against each other in the Premier League - when I was Manchester United interim boss against Chelsea - we spoke for half an hour. "I didn't know yet about Leicester but we spoke about it and he was already very positive [after managing them]. That only got better when I spoke to him. I have to say he was absolutely right, according to first impressions."
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